1. Field
The present disclosure discloses a method for preventing, improving and/or treating cornea damage or a corneal disease, including administering an effective amount of an extract of a persimmon tree for preventing, improving and/or treating the cornea damage or corneal disease to a subject in need thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Keratitis refers to a condition in which the eye's cornea is damaged and becomes inflamed due to edema. The symptoms of keratitis include impaired eyesight, pain, red eye, tearing, dazzling, increased tears, foreign body sensation, etc. and severe inflammation may lead to the destruction of the whole cornea and significantly affect vision.
Keratitis can be largely classified into infective and non-infective keratitis. Specifically, infective keratitis is caused by various pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc. And, non-infective keratitis can be subdivided, for example, into exposure keratitis caused by prolonged exposure of the cornea to external air, toxic keratitis caused by drugs, neurotrophic keratitis caused by corneal nerve damage, contact lens acute red eye, physical trauma, etc.
Persimmon (Diospyros kaki) is a fruit tree that grows in East Asia, including Korea, China, Japan, etc. The tree is 6-14 m tall. The outer bark is cleaved like scales and the small branches have brown hair. The leaves, which grow in alternation, are coriaceous and elliptic-ovate. The leaves are 7-17 cm long and 4-10 cm wide and are not toothed. The petiole is 5-13 mm long and hairy. The yellow-white flowers, bisexual or unisexual, bloom at the axils in May to June. The male flower has 16 stamens but the bisexual flower has 4-16 stamens. The female flower is 15-18 mm long. The style is hairy and split lengthwise and the ovary has 8 locules. The fruit is oval or oblong and ripens yellow to red-orange in October.
In traditional medicine, the fruit of persimmon has been used to relieve heat from the heart or lungs due to its cold properties. Likewise, the leaf of persimmon also has cold and bitter properties. According to Dongui Bogam and Boncho Gangmok, the persimmon leaf is effective in chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, peptic ulcer, etc. Also, the persimmon leaf is known to be rich in water-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, C, P, etc. as well as tannins and catechins and, thus, may be helpful in improving immunity and maintaining the homeostasis of the body. However, nothing is known about the effect of inhibiting cornea damage and protecting corneal cells of a persimmon extract.